You can certainly get lost in the woods with either method and both take financial discipline. I know a hardware company is more likely to get my money vs waves, izotope, or the plethora of other companies, but that doesn’t mean all those “X for only $29!” emails / ads don’t get me sometimes. It is kind of like eurorack… each module doesn’t seem that expensive in a vacuum, but it all ads up in a hurry

I also used an old mac g4 running os 9 and protools 4 until a little over a year ago. Did the job for the most part

The first time i came across ilok or was it a lenslok? was when I bought Tomahawk for the Sinclair Spectrum, I bought Tomahawk instead of a ticket to depeche mode in concert at Maysfield Leisure Centre Belfast.

That was in 1986, but i did get good value out of Tomahawk(when the lenslok would work) and my quickshot pro joystick made me feel like I was flying a real helicopter.

I imagine this post may just go above most peoples heads and there-fore best be ignored

It still just sounds like end user woes to me. You have to learn how to use a computer just as much as another instrument, or in most of your cases, hardware interfaces that interact with a completely gimped operating system. It is possible you have to learn more, because in order to have a great experience you need to understand something about how computers work and what makes them run like crap. IF you have problems with a computer, it’s usually (not always) eebkac.

Personal opinions on what makes you more creative without a computer are fine, but if you think technology somehow takes away from an artistic creation and attaches a stigma to another artist…that is an opinion that probably isn’t worth consideration by anyone. Quite a few of the complaints about computers in this thread can all apply to hardware, especially hardware that uses an operating system…

it is an endless debate though, especially in an art community where people love to be the special exception.

I often debated that with myself, I missed the Black Celebration tour after all, but i’m at peace now as I have seen them multiple times, each time I swore I would go sober, but each concert is a blur, but I can still recall Tomahawk fresh in my mind

i wasn’t directing my post at you, just replying to the thread, in general. I would have added the @DavyP to directly get at you, although I realize you started the thread so it might have seemed that way.

Computer applications like novation launchpad represent the ultimate in convenience for that - buy a few sample packs, twiddle away, publish, all from your phone. Elektron boxes are light years behind such a level of convenience. Hell, they even require you to RTFM

Not sure if that’s true. To run modern vst’s you need a good computer, then you need your software, then you have all these different effects, sample packs, vst’s etc. dangled in front of you!

Then the software company might upsell with a cheapo plastic controller to give you the hardware experience. On top of that they will update the software charging you an upgrade fee and stop supporting the version you paid for, often with bugs that will never be fixed.

Your software is also vulnerable to upgrades in os’s. Where as if you bought a moog for example in 1980 it may still work and in fact be worth a lot more than you paid for it!

There is a glut of hardware but there is way more software as there is less expense and risk in producing it.

Hardware is demonstrated at shows like namm, software can be demonstrared via a restricted demo!

It’s easier to impulse buy software than it is hardware, as those with Steam accounts with unplayed software would testify too!

That’s why the majority of black friday deals are software, you buy it thinking it’s a deal but how much use do you get out of it. Especially if it’s a sample pack, i almost feel dirty using them, it’s like cheating.

Where as hardware is there, it is visible, tangible and if you don’t get on it has a resale value!

A computer to run decent software + software doesn’t cost more than a good modern poly analog and has 1000x times the potential in terms of sound pallete.

Being influenced by impulse buys has less to do with the product and more to do with the brain chemistry and behavioral patterns of the individual.

So don’t buy the upsell cheapo contler—see 2. I’m still running Cakewalk Z3TA I bought ten years ago or more. Its no longer supported and has been through three OS upgrades. Ditto on a bunch of KVR freeware I scooped up when I was beginning. Do you people have no impulse control or what?

3b. Software isn’t as vulnerable to OS updates as the hardware devotees claim, it just isn’t, not these days. Drivers I might have to acknowledge as vulnerable, but I’m still running a MOTU828 MKII on Windows 7 and Windows 10. A 1980s Moog is going to need maintenance just like a CPU will. If you don’t like working on computers, fine, pay some on to, just like I would pay someone to repair my synths. If you have a dedicated music station keeping one running with your software intact is no great trick. Watch porn on your smart phone like everyone else! Keep that music CPU clean : )

So what? There is tons more software. Most of it is pure ish and its obvious. Not sure what your point is here. Its quite easy to spot the lemons in both hardware and software land, everything else is usable to someboday somewhere.

I can’t afford to go to NAMM, I also really couldn’t care less than I currently do about going. Software demos are great! Most demos aren’t so “crippled” you can’t get a sense of the software.

This goes back up to something early but…most people don’t care if their instruments end up being worth more or less. I buy everything assuming that if its great, I’ll use it until it dies or I do. I’m a musician not a museum curator. If I sell it for less than I paid, so I payed a small “rental fee” to use it for a while.

Software has resale value. Like many synth purchases you can sell it easily for a little less than you paid. I’ve sold as much or more “used” software than synths. Also, way less a hassle to sell.

7b. If you impulse buy too much Black Friday software, in 4-5 months sell it all for a decent price under the typical street price.

Use whatever you want. But this whole hardware devotee culture has gone off the deep end and is misinformative to new hardware users. Don’t go Gearslutz on me Elektronauts!

I don’t mean to point a finger directly at you DavyP, but these are easily debunked claims I see often.

i blamed lot of staff for my lack of creativity, than i realized is me to blame

well, blame is is a bit harsh, creativity is a state of mind, like fear, sadness or happiness, it needs to be trained , but first recognized on conscious level. We all tend to practices fear all day long , not creativity.

No. I don’t think hardware users are particularly impulsive. I just don’t put any stock in the claim that software turns people into impulse buying hoarders because its easier to buy or is more instantly gratifiying or whatever, which is essentially the claim the person I responded to is making.

S1: A good computer to keep up with current software demands is fairly expensive. Depends on what your definition of modern poly is?

2: good point, but gas is hard to avoid

I refer you to your last sentence “do you people” etc. You sound angry!

3b porn reference, too old for that and you negated a fair point by doing that

Not sure what to say here still caught out by you using 3b as a bullet point

See you missed this one, i was talking about the cost of marketing and how a hardware manufacturer has to travel to promotre his wares hence occur more costs then have to inflate the price of the end product!

Well done, in fact i sell mine at low prices so others benefits, check out my feed back

7 can’t say that’s true for me but then i went to cex

7b not streetwise enough to do that

Final summary:

I think you’ve picked on the wrong person, i like elektronauts, i like it’s community, i like the differing points of view, i just want to make songs, and elektronauts is a million miles from being gearslutz…

All i did was sit down to make a tune on my computer and it did’nt work out :